Thierry Henry’s timing remains impeccable.
Almost exactly a month after he sunk Leeds United with a last-minute goal, Henry rescued Arsenal again, scoring a dramatic goal in stoppage time that gave the visitors a 2-1 victory against Sunderland and vaulted them back into the Premier League's top four.
Henry found room in the six-yard box to slip a side-footed volley underneath the goalkeeper after Andrei Arshavin picked him out with a pinpoint cross in the final minutes of his last league game at Arsenal on loan. He will meet up with his New York Red Bulls teammates in Arizona on Feb. 17, according to Hans Backe, but didn't rule out another return to club he now supports in the future.
"If Arsenal need some help one day, I will be around," Henry told BBC Sport following the match
"You can never say never," he added regarding whether or not he'd played his last Premier League match with the Gunners. "I felt just like a kid who scores his first goal for the team he loves.".
The Frenchman entered the game in the 66th minute for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and watched as Sunderland scored the opener four minutes later. But fellow substitute Aaron Ramsey evened things up in the 75th minute, setting Henry up for another dramatic moment in his 258th league appearance for the Gunners.
He will return to the Red Bulls with at least three more Arsenal goals to his name after writing another chapter in his legendary career at the club. Henry has appeared in six games during the short-term loan – all as a substitute – and will have one more opportunity to add to his club-record goal total on Wednesday in round of 16 action against AC Milan in the Champions League.
"I hope he will add some more [goals] in the Champions League on Wednesday," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told BBC Sport. "Certainly he got us the three points in a very difficult game."
The Gunners are now 4-1-1 since Henry arrived on loan, and haven’t lost when the Red Bulls’ captain finds the back of the net. The 34-year-old striker also scored in his last home appearance with the club, capping off a 7-1 rout of Blackburn on Feb. 4.
